by Victoria Yeh 

If you poured soap into your car's gas tank and your car broke down the next morning on your way to work - would you be surprised? Probably not! Yet many of us are eating food that we shouldn't and remain puzzled as to why we suffer from a number of health complaints.

If you chronically suffer from fatigue, irritability, sinus problems, headaches, infertility or more - you might want to look at the food that you're eating. And it's not just a matter of pointing the finger at "good" or "bad" foods, but rather finding out what foods are good and bad for YOU.

Before we explore the subject of food further, let's first define a few key terms.

Food allergies cause the body to release histamines when exposed to a culprit food. Depending on the severity of your allergy, reactions can vary from itchy eyes and a runny nose to life threatening anaphylaxis.

Food intolerance is an inability to properly digest food. Lactose intolerance, for example, occurs when the body does not create enough lactase enzyme to digest dairy. Symptoms of an intolerance can vary widely from bloating, indigestion and diarrhoea, to eczema, learning difficulties and fatigue (some even suspect osteoporosis).

Food sensitivity is a generalized term that can refer to both allergies and intolerances.

Celiac disease is an auto-immune disorder where the body attacks its own intestinal wall when exposed to gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt and kamut). Approximately 1% of Canadians suffer from this condition, which can cause bloating, fatigue, diarrhoea, infertility, miscarriages and unexplained neurological conditions. While only a relatively small proportion of people have Celiac disease, it is estimated that about 15% of people have some form of intolerance to wheat.

If you suspect that you have food sensitivities, there are a few things you can do to test for them, and even more importantly, easy strategies to adapt to them. One way to identify a food sensitivity is to eliminate all common allergens and/or suspected foods from your diet and see what happens. Common foods to avoid during an elimination diet include: gluten, dairy, refined sugar, soy and corn. There are two keys to making this diet work:

1. You must eliminate suspected foods 100% from your diet for 4-6 weeks... no cheating!
2. Listen carefully to your body and observe any changes to your physical and mental state.

If you feel worse during the first two weeks, then much better, you have probably removed an offending food from your diet. After the 4-6 week elimination period, slowly reintroduce one food back into your diet at a time. If your symptoms come back, you'll have a good clue to what food is at fault.

Once you've done your own detective work, you'll be able to have a more meaningful conversation with your health care provider, who can then requisition tests to determine the nature of your sensitivity. If it turns out you only have a mild sensitivity, you may be able to get away with eating small amounts of these foods from time to time. But if it turns out you have Celiac disease or a severe sensitivity, you will have to commit to a diet 100% free of the culprit food.

If you do have food sensitivities - the key to being successful with any diet is to embrace it as a new lifestyle. Once you learn to identify hidden sources of culprit foods, make successful substitutions to your own recipes, and to be efficient with your time; your once "restrictive" diet will simply become your new way of life.

Victoria Yeh is the author of "Where Do I Start?" both a resource book for anyone struggling to adapt to dietary restrictions and a gluten, dairy, sugar free cookbook. 

For more information about Victoria or her free seminars visit glutenfreetoronto.com, or to purchase her book visit glutenfreetoronto.com/book.html